When dealing with the public in a small business situation, being online presents some unique situations. We have had over a 1000 transactions with great follow through but every once in a while, we have a non-paying buyer.

There seems to be a trend with people who make an offer. You would think if they made the offer, once it is accepted they would pay immediately. Lately that's not been the case.

We encountered one of these situations again this past week. We had accepted an offer on an item & waited 4 days for payment. It didn't happen. We sent another invoice. Again no response. We waited 2 more days & sent one final reminder, telling the buyer we would have no choice but to turn it in to Ebay if she didn't pay within 48 hours. We heard nothing & turned it over to Ebay. This morning we received an apology from the buyer saying she didn't realize she had an outdated email registered with Ebay so had received none of our contacts. Not sure how this works since two of the contacts came from Ebay via invoice but that's of no matter. She did pay & it will be mailed.

What made the difference in the contact? My personal opinion is that when you turn a non-paying buyer over to Ebay, they contact the buyer informing them there will be a mark against them as a non-paying buyer. If this continues to happen they will lose their Ebay privileges. Most times, the buyers pay for the item or at the very least, contact us & ask if we will release them from the obligation.

Why doesn't everyone who hits the 'Buy It Now' button pay for it at the time of purchase? I believe it has a lot to do with the way our society thinks. 1) Maybe the person doesn't have room on the credit card to pay for it but they want the item & want to be sure they don't lose it. 2) It's like a game to them. Because it's a 'cyber' decision, it doesn't seem like it's a real decision. 3) It could be a shopping addiction. The thrill is in the purchase, not the receiving of the item. 4) They don't have the money....yet. Maybe payday is 3 days away & they don't have the money in the bank at the time of purchase. 5) Maybe the person wants to see how great a 'bargain' they can get but think their offer won't be accepted. Then when it is accepted...well, they didn't think about how they would pay for it. 6) The buyer simply forgot they purchased the item.

These are just some of the thoughts I've had about Non-Paying Buyers but it really doesn't matter why they don't pay. As a seller, we need to know how to respond. Our suggestion: 1) Send an invoice immediately after purchase.
2) If no payment within 3-4 days (depending on your patience), send another invoice reminding the buyer of their purchase. "We all get busy and maybe you forgot..." type thing.
3) If you have not received payment after steps 1 & 2, send an email through your Ebay account (you'll need proof you contacted them if there is a dispute) telling them you will have no choice but to turn the situation over to Ebay if they don't pay because you need to recoup your fees & this is the only way to do it.
4) If you don't hear from them, follow through with contacting Ebay. The very least is you'll be reimbursed for your fees & be able to relist the item, hopefully selling to someone who WILL pay!

Always be kind, courteous & professional in all of your contacts. Jesus stated it very well many years ago, "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you..."Matthew 7:12

Ebay is allowing free 10 day auctions by invitation only July 13-19 so needless to say you may not hear from me much this week! :-)

When we purchased the RV, Tom Raper gave us a certificate for 30 nights free camping at a resort. We had 30 days to contact the Resort to activate the offer. Due to everything that happened in the month of December, we never got around to it. On Friday this past week we received a call from the Resort asking us if we would be interested in activating the free camping. Since it costs an average of $25 to camp we said, "Sure! What do we need to do?" On Saturday, we traveled 2 1/2 hours for a presentation &this is what we received for our time:

1) $50 Gas Reimbursement for our travel (We took the Focus getting 35mpg so that worked in our favor)

2) Free lunch: Quarter pound burgers with the works, chips and a drink.

3) 30 Free nights to stay at one of their Resorts: 1 in Florida, 1 in North Carolina, 1 in Pennsylvania and 2 in Ohio. ($30 per night = $900)
What a bargain!

I must admit we seriously considered going for the membership. The price was very affordable & it could be used by our entire family. Certain Resorts could be gotten free at any time over 1000 affiliates throughout the states, Hawaii, Canada & Mexico would be $10 a night. Cabins could be rented for $100 less per night, starting at $49 &huge discounts were offered for cruises. It could have been a sweet deal! So why didn't we take it?

Because we didn't want to be locked in to any one place AND the membership would pass down to our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. What's wrong with that? Not only do you pass down the membership but you also pass down the yearly maintenance fee. We just couldn't with good conscience do that to our children. It's one thing to obligate ourselves but it's not right to pass our debt to them so we decided the membership was not for us.

After researching we think we'll become members of Passport America. It's $44 a year with 1800+ campground participating. When using the membership, you receive 50% off on nightly camping. This will give us the freedom we're looking for.

Part of the reason for purchasing the RV was to travel around, staying in certain places for longer periods of time to see if sometime in the future we might consider purchasing & later moving. Who knows? We might travel around & decide we're content where we are but at least we'll be able to make that decision without 'mortgaging' our future.

Was there pressure at the RV place? Sure but we knew we needed to be true to our vision for our lives. So many times we as humans cave in and accept the 'vision' someone else has for us. We worry what others will think if we think differently, feeling the pressure we often 'cave in'. That's when we miss out on the greatest blessing....Being true to who God created us to be. By being who He created us to be, most times we will be marching to the beat of aDifferent Drummer. I can't think of a more exciting life than to be listening to the Creator of the Universe as He leads me on my journey through this life. Can you?

We were amazed the Bunny & Beta Tapes sold within 24 hours for asking price. I know we don't ask huge prices like some on Ebay but we are always happy with our mark-up. We spent $2.59 for these two items and grossed $28.49. Not bad for 15 minutes in Goodwill! :-)

So keep your eyes open! You never know what goodies you may find in the least likely places!

Ok so I'm breaking my own rule...I'm writing on the weekend. Just couldn't help myself.

We went to an auction tonight....something we haven't done for a few weeks. Honestly I didn't want to go. I'm still struggling with the loss of my nephew. I just can't seem to wrap my head around it, let alone accept it. Everytime I think of his parents, siblings, wife & children my heart breaks all over again and I say to myself, "It's just wrong." But no matter how many times I say it, we all know I can't change it.

The auctioneer has known my brother & his family for a long time and he asked about how they were doing. Somehow, I found that comforting. I can't explain it but just knowing others were thinking about them made me feel better and I was glad we had gone.

So what happened at the auction? We saw 2 couples we have known for ages and truly enjoyed sharing hugs and competitive bidding. The funny thing is that they each have booths in local antique malls plus sell on Ebay so there are times we want the same things. Only once have we gotten into a bidding war but it is all done in fun! As I've stated before when Terry & I start taking the 'store' thing too seriously, that will be when we quit. So what did we buy?

We've yet to sort through everything but I'm sure we'll make a few dollars off the goodies, not to mention find things to give away or use.

If you know someone who is going through a tough time, allow enough down time for them as they're walking through the valley but don't give up on them. Although they may not be ready to 're-join' life, they need to be encouraged by others....letting them know they are not forgotten. I appreciate my husband for encouraging me to get out tonight because he knew I didn't want to see other people & pretend to be happy. But you know what? For just a short while, my heart felt lighter and I know that's what my nephew would want. He was a fun loving guy and he always had a smile for me. I think I could at least do that much for him. How blessed I am to have had him in my life.

Thanks for stopping by! Take time to worship the God of the Universe this weekend! He loves you so very much.